A Mother and Son Chat
by akane47
Summary: Mother and son meet for lunch and a little bit of hope. Set after the events of You're Beautiful.


**Disclaimer:** The AN JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of _You're Beautiful_.

**Author's Notes:** Mo Hwa-ran wasn't my favorite character in the show, but the idea of her as a lonely older woman living with all these regrets wouldn't leave me alone. Also, to be fair, she tried to make things right so that her son would have the kind of love and happiness that so eluded her. So for those reasons, I thought that she deserves to have at least one fairly pleasant encounter with Tae-kyung.

**A MOTHER-SON CHAT**

The first thing Mo Hwa-ran thought when her son entered the private dining room she had reserved was that he didn't seem to want to be there.

Sadly, it wasn't a surprise, considering the way she had treated him for most of his life; but now, she _was_ trying to improve their relationship. She supposed that Tae-kyung wanted to try, too — he wouldn't show up if he didn't, right?

However, that didn't stop him from making the sarcastic remarks that she had come to expect from him. "This is cozy," Tae-kyung drawled as he took a seat.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to sit in the open dining area," Hwa-ran explained. "Of course, we can transfer there if you'd rather."

He shook his head. "No, this is fine."

An awkward silence descended then, broken only by the arrival of the waiter who formally presented them with menus and took their drink orders. Hwa-ran ordered a bottle of wine, while Tae-kyung settled for water. "You don't have to drink just water if you don't want to," she told him.

"I like water," he answered briefly.

"Madam, our restaurant carries a very fine Italian mineral water," the waiter suggested. "Perhaps the young master would like some."

She waved a hand. "You can ask him if he would like that."

Tae-kyung shrugged and said that he would try the mineral water. The waiter bowed respectfully and left to get their drinks.

Hwa-ran watched her son scowl intently over the menu, just like his father when presented with some new music to study. "Order whatever you like," she said softly. "I know that you're allergic to shrimp and sesame seeds, but I don't know what else you can safely eat."

"I'll ask my doctor to give you a list," he replied, his eyes still on the menu.

He probably said that to hurt her, but from a practical point of view, it was the best way to get that kind of information. "That would be very helpful," she said humbly. "Thank you."

Just then, their drinks arrived. Once the wine bottle was opened, Hwa-ran poured herself a healthy glassful. After the events of last year, she had promised to watch her health, besides doing other things to live a better life, but some liquid courage was always welcome when one was dealing with a difficult situation.

"Are Madam and the young master ready to order?" the waiter asked.

Hwa-ran nodded, setting aside her menu. "I'll have the salmon," she told the waiter, just as Tae-kyung said the same thing.

"An excellent choice," the young man said smoothly, writing down their orders on his little pad. "The salmon comes with a choice of soup or salad. Which would you like to have?" He nodded and made notes as Tae-kyung opted for the salad and Hwa-ran chose the soup. "I will bring your first courses shortly."

"Thank you."

When the waiter had gone again, she took a sip of her wine. "It's quite good," she said to Tae-kyung. "Would you like some?"

He looked at the wine and the second glass that the waiter had thought to bring, and nodded. "Thank you."

"I brought you something from Paris," Hwa-ran told her son as she poured him some of the wine. Putting the bottle down, she reached over to the seat beside her and handed him a small gift bag. "It's not much, but I thought you would like it."

Tae-kyung opened the bag and pulled out a CD of songs by the famous French singer, Edith Piaf. "It's very nice," he said. "Thank you."

"I thought it was perfect for you," she explained, "because you're a musician, and since it's of Edith Piaf's music, it's also a nice souvenir of France. I find her music very evocative of Paris. I think you'd love it there: it's so cosmopolitan, but there's also so much culture and history—"

"I know," he broke in quietly. "Abeoji has taken me there a couple of times already."

"Of course he would," Hwa-ran said, blushing slightly, and that effectively killed the conversation. Fortunately, at that point the waiter reappeared to serve their first courses, filling yet another awkward pause.

She tried again after the waiter left. "I saw your new video. You looked very good in it."

"Thank you."

She wanted to add that Tae-kyung looked just like his father, but decided to just leave it unsaid. They now had the food to keep them occupied, and besides, the boy probably knew it anyway. Although it had been she who had carried and given birth to him, Tae-kyung was his father's child through and through. Hwa-ran supposed that was all for the best, because goodness knows that she wasn't the best person in the world; but now that she wanted a genuine connection with her son, she couldn't help wishing that they had at least one small thing in common.

"Is AN JELL working on a new album?" she asked him after the first course was cleared away and the main course, salmon baked with lemon and herbs, served.

He nodded. "We've just started writing and recording songs for it, so besides the single that we just released, we don't have any other songs yet." Tae-kyung helped himself to a bit of his fish and then, surprisingly, asked her a question. "Are you going to record anything new?"

"No." Her blush deepened as she remembered her last disastrous attempt to do just that. "I miss making music, but I think I'm going to rest a little while longer. Maybe I'll do some more traveling, or even write a book."

"That's nice." Another awkward silence descended and they once again sought refuge in their lunch.

"And how is your band getting along? Go Mi-nam... is he fitting in well with the rest of you?"

"Yes, he's fitting in fine," he answered. "He definitely has his own ideas about doing things, but he's doing his best to work well with the rest of the group."

"I'm glad. I was afraid that you would take the past against him," she admitted.

His features tightened slightly at that, but Tae-kyung shook his head. "We don't talk about it. There are more important things to think about. And even if there weren't," he added curtly, "it's all in the past now, anyway."

Hwa-ran nodded. It made her sad to think that her grand romance with Go Jae-hyun was now considered ancient history (and not at all what it had seemed), but her son had a point about leaving it in the past where it belonged. Her love story, if one could still call it that, was over and Jae-hyun was dead. What she needed to do was accept it and move on.

Besides, there was another love story that had begun, one that showed more promise than hers ever had. "What about Mi-nam's sister?" she asked. "How is she? Do you hear from her often?"

The smile that blossomed on her son's face wasn't for her, but it made her heart lift nonetheless. "We call her all the time," he said. "Not so much now that we've become busy again and with the time difference in Kenya, but there's always text messaging."

"That's nice. It must be difficult, being so far away from home, so I'm sure your calls and messages mean a lot to her."

Tae-kyung nodded. "It means a lot to us, too," he agreed. "Go Mi-nyeo is... a special kind of fan."

Hwa-ran was aware that the girl was more than that, but decided against pressing her son to admit it just so she could feel close to him. It was enough to know that he now had someone who loved him unconditionally, the way she should have. Perhaps someday Tae-kyung would confide in her more, when his relationship with Mi-nyeo began to grow deeper and he would need his mother's advice.

_Perhaps..._

Neither of them hurried to finish their food, but the meal ended much too soon for Hwa-ran's taste. Tae-kyung refused his mother's invitation to stay for dessert or coffee, but she took comfort in the fact that he had to leave due to a radio show guesting set for that afternoon. At least, he didn't seem to be bent on ending the meeting and getting away from her as soon as possible.

"Of course," she said, suppressing her disappointment and mustering a smile. "No son of mine will ever be accused of neglecting his business commitments... even if no one knows that he is my son."

The remark made Tae-kyung smile. It was a thin, dry smile, nothing at all like the one that had crossed his lips at the mention of Mi-nyeo, but it was sincere, and it was all hers. "No," he agreed as he got to his feet, "no one will ever say that about me.

"Stay as long as you like, I'll take care of the bill," he added, and to Hwa-ran's surprise, walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"I'll see you next month, Omoni."


End file.
